5g technology

5G Technology

Why in news?

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved extension (six months) to conduct 5G trials till May 2022 for Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone idea.



What is it?

5G Technology-

  • 5G is the 5th generation wireless cellular network. It will deliver faster and more reliable communication with lower latency, massive network capacity.
  • 5G technologies will enable a new kind of network designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices..
  • It facilitates data transmission over wireless broadband connections at multigigabit speeds, the potential peak speed can be as high as 20 gigabits per second (Gbps). These speeds are more than wireline network speeds. It offers low latency, that is 1 millisecond or lower, which is useful for applications that require real-time feedback.
  • With advanced antenna technology and more available bandwidth, it will provide a sharp rise in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems.
  • 5G mainly work in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum.
    • Low band spectrum: Great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second). For commercial cellphone users, who may not have specific demands for very high speed internet.
    • Mid-band spectrum: Offers higher speed compare to the lower band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
    • High-band spectrum: It has the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.



Hurdles to 5G evolution in India-

  • Lack of infrastructure: It will require a fundamental change to the core architecture of the communication system. The major limitation of data transfer using 5G technology is that it cannot carry data over longer distances. Hence, even 5G technology needs to be augmented to enable infrastructure.
    • Import dependent fibre optics industry.
    • Interrupted power supply.
  • High auction prices: The government has so far assigned 3300-3600 MHz band for 5G and the price of which has been fixed at Rs. 492 crore per unit which is very high.
  • Consumer constraints: It will create financial liability on consumers as one has to upgrade to the latest cellular technology for transition from 4G to 5G technology. Some other major issues are about Data privacy, Handset availability, affordability and interoperability, Network coverage issues.
  • Network security: 5G will enable real-time connectivity within critical infrastructure. Thus, any possible weakness in the network security can threaten security of this infrastructure and in turn may threaten our national security.



Conclusion

India should proactively work to deploy 5G technology. We should focus on strengthening our cyber infrastructure. Government should incentivize telecom firms to develop their capacities which would in turn help 5G technology succeed in the country. 5G Technology would bring low latency communication systems which can be used in agriculture, manufacturing sector and retail verticals too.

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